Character reasearch part 2

http://www.streetsoflondon.org.uk/about-homelessness

7,500 people sleep rough on the streets of London every year. They come from every walk of life, and many of them want to find work.
Relationship breakdown, redundancy, poor mental health, alcohol/substance addiction, domestic abuse – these are just some of the reasons why people end up homeless.
people don’t choose to be homeless - they find themselves sleeping on the street because they arefacing a major crisis that means they’ve ended up with nowhere else to stay.

Sleeping rough has serious consequences. On average, homeless people die at just 47 years old, compared to 81 years for the average UK citizen. A homeless rough sleeper is 35 times more likely to commit suicide than the average person.Two thirds of rough sleepers surveyed said they had been insulted by a member of the public, and one in ten said that they had been urinated on. We need to change attitudes towards homeless people – they have a right to be treated with the same respect as anyone else.The streets are a dangerous place to be - homeless people are 13 times more likely to be a victim of violent crime than the general public, and 47 times more likely to be a victim of theft.

NSPCC definition of child abuse:
Child abuse is any action by another person – adult or child – that causes significant harm to a child. It can be physical, sexual or emotional, but can just as often be about a lack of love, care and attention. We know that neglect, whatever form it takes, can be just as damaging to a child as physical abuse.

An abused child will often experience more than one type of abuse, as well as other difficulties in their lives. It often happens over a period of time, rather than being a one-off event.

Physical:
Physical abuse is deliberately hurting a child causing injuries such as bruises, broken bones, burns or cuts.
It isn’t accidental - children who are physically abused suffer violence such as being hit, kicked, poisoned, burned, slapped or having objects thrown at them. Shaking or hitting babies can cause non-accidental head injuries (NAHI). Sometimes parents or carers will make up or cause the symptoms of illness in their child, perhaps giving them medicine they don’t need and making the child unwell.

Neglect:
Neglect is the ongoing failure to meet a child's basic needs and is the most common form of child abuse. A child may be left hungry or dirty, without adequate clothing, shelter, supervision, medical or health care. A child may be put in danger or not protected from physical or emotional harm. They may not get the love, care and attention they need from their parents. A child who's neglected will often suffer from otherabuse as well. Neglect is dangerous and can cause serious, long-term damage - even death.

Trafficking:
Child trafficking is child abuse. Children are recruited, moved or transported and then exploited, forced to work or sold. They are often subject to multiple forms of exploitation.

Children are trafficked for:
Child sexual exploitation.
Benefit fraud.
Forced marriage.
Domestic servitude such as cleaning, childcare, cooking.
Forced labour in factories or agriculture.
Criminal activity such as pickpocketing, begging, transporting drugs, working on cannabis farms, selling pirated DVDs, bag theft.

This has been my further research into creating and developing my character of Alan in a Handbag. I have looked at homeless life in London as Alan has spent some time in London with nowhere to go. I also looked further into child abuse as before I had only look at sexual abuse, this time I looked into the other forms of abuse I know Alan has received and some I believe he could have received. This is all to help me to create my character profile for Alan.